Reversible hand winch



Sept.'6, 1966 R. H. GRAY REVERSIBLE HAND WINCH 2 Sheets-Sheet l "4 FIMG.

Filed Nov. 26, 1963 INVENTOR. ROBERT H. GRAY B ATTORNEY Sept. 5, 1966 R,H, GRAY 3,271,010

REVERSIBLE HAND WINCH Filed Nov. 26, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4

` I\VENTOR. ROBERTl H. GRAY Bfww. mv

Y Y ATTQBNEY United States Patent O 3,271,010 REVERSIBLE HAND WINCHRobert H. Gray, 4420 NE. Maywood Piace, Portland, Greg. Filed Nov. 26,1963, Ser. No. 325,981 9 Claims.. (Cl. 254-167) This invention relatesto new and useful improvements in Winch structures and more particularlyis concerned with a reversi-ble hand Winch.

A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a hand winchemploying novel means for `accomplishing ratchet raising of a load,ratchet lowering of a load, and lfree or release lowering of a load.

A more particular object is to provide a -hand winch employing a novelassociation of ratchet gear, pawl, and selector means Lfor controllingthe above said functions of load raising, load lowering, and freelowering.

Another particular object of the present invention is to provide novelselector means for operating a pawl in various functions of loadcontrol.

Another object is to provide a hand winch employing ratio drive meanstherefor and associating con-trol means with the ratio drive means.

Another object is to provide a hand winc-h which employs in a compactrelationship drum winding means, ratio drive means, and control meansfor raising and lowering a load, thus facilitating convenient handlin-g,shipment, and storage.

It is still another object to provide a hand winch of the type describedwhich employs individual chambers for the winding drum and controlmechanism, wherein the latter is maintained free of dust, dirt, or otherforeign material which vmay be associated with the winding drum.

Additional objects and advantages will become apparent and the inventionwill be better understood -from the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferredform of the device.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational View of the present winch with parts thereofin section and .parts broken away, taken on the staggered line 1 1 offFIG-URE 4, and showing one position of control means -utilized therein;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational View taken on the same line as FIGURE l butshowing a second position of the control means;

FIGURE 3 is a View similar to FIGURES l and 2 but showing a thirdposition of the control means;

FIGURE 4 is a longitudinal sec-tional View of the winch, somewhatenlarged and taken on the staggered line 4 4 of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of FIGUREl;

FIGURE 6 is a .perspective View of pawl means, such pawl means beingshown in inverted position and apart from the winch;

FIGURE 7 .is an enlarged perspective view of a selector member utilizedin the present winch and also shown apart therefrom; and

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged lfragmentary sectional view taken on the line 88 of FIGURE 1 and showing the selector member installed in t-he winch.

Referring now in particular to the drawings, the present Winch comprisesa housing `10l formed of two complementary sections 12 and 14, FIGURE 4.These housing sections are secured together in assembly by studs or thelike 16.

Housing '10 .has a pair of compartments 18 and 20 separated by aninternal wall 22 secured to the housing section 14 through the medium ofscrews 24 threadedly 3,271,010 Patented Sept. 6, 1966 ICC mounted in anoffset portion A26 in the said housing section 14.

Housing 10, adjacent chamber 18, has front and rear openings 28 and abottom opening 30. The upper wall of the vhousing has incorporatedtherein a spindle 32 terminating at its lower end in threads `forreceiving a nut to secure the spindle to the housing. The other end ofthe spindle terminates in a hook or the like, not shown, for anchoringthe winch.

Mounted in the housing is a drum or spool 38, FIG- URE 4, hafving endflanges 40 for coniining a cable C in wound relation on the drum, thefree end of the cable projecting through the bottom opening 30. T-hedrum has integral support on a shaft 42 projecting through the `endWalls of the housing as well as through the internal Wall 22. In apreferred construction, shaft 42 is square or of other non-roundconfiguration and is associated, in order to receive rotatable supportin -the housing, with pairs of busings 44 and 46, the latter bushinghaving a square opening for mounting engagement on the shaft and havin-ga lcircular outer periphery for rotatable journaled engagement inbushings 44.

Mounted on the shaft 42 and disposed in the compa-rtment 20 is a gearwheel 50, FIGURES 1-4 and 8, this wheel having a square central aperture52 for mounting on the shaft and for rotation therewith. Mountedadjacent the gear wheel 50 on the shaft 42 is a ratchet wheel 54, ofsmaller diameter than the gear 50.

Meshing with t-he gear Wheel 50 .is a pinion gear 56 forming an integralpart of a square shaft 58 one end of which is journaled in an end Wallof the housing by a pair of bushings 44 and 46 similar to thosedescribed in connection with t-he shaft 42. The other end of shaft 58has a spindle portion 60 journaled in `an aperture 62 in the internalWall 22.

As seen in FIGURE 4, both shafts 42 and 58 project through one wall andare both available for turning as by a suitable wrench or crank. Adirect turning ratio is accomplished by Vturning shaft 42 and a ratiodrive is accomplished by turning shaft 58.

Pinion gear 56 is engageable by a pawl 66 rotatably supported on a pin68 supported in the adjacent end wall of the housing and the internalWall 2v2, best shown in FIGURE 5. Pawl 66 has end teeth 70 forengagement with the pinion gear S6. The association of the pawl with thepinion gear is, as shown in FIGURES 1-3, such that when these membersare in engagement, rotation of the pinion gear can be accomplished inthe direction of arrow 72, FIGURE l, but .prevented from rotation in theopposite direction. Thus, in this position of the pawl a ratcheted loadraising function may be accomplished as more fully describedhereinafter.

Associated with the pawl 66 are three control members 74, 76 and 78.Control member 74, in the form of a detent spring, comprises a doubleleaf spring having a connected end portion `82 seated in a socket 84 inthe housing. The other end of the spring is engaged in a recess 86 inthe to-p surface of ythe pawl 66.

Spring 74 is constructed and arranged to hold the pawl 66 in theover-center positions, one of which is shown in FIGURE 1 for engagementwith pinion 56 and the other of which is shown in FIGURE 2 fordisengaged relation with said pinion.

Control member 76 comprises `a leaf spring and is refer-red to herein asa pawl spring. It projects rearwardly from -the pawl 66 in substantiallya llongitudinally aligned .position therewith. For mounting this spring,the rear of the pawl is notched at 88 to form a shoulder portion 90.This shoulder portion has a forwardly extending slot 92 which xedlyreceives one end of pawl spring 76.

Control member 78 comprises a toggle arm and has a right angle topextension 94. The end of extension 94 is widened and xedly received in aslot 96 in the rear surface of the pawl 66. As best seen in FIGURES 1-3,the angled extension 94 of the toggle arm 7S projects substantiallylongitudinally of the pawl and the main body of this arm projectsdownwardly.

As best seen in FIGURE 6, the spring 76 and toggle arm 78 are relativelynarrow in construction to bypass each other in spaced edge relation, thespring 76 being mounted substantially centrally of the pawl and the bodyportion of the arm 78 being offset to one side of its widened angled end94.

Associated with the spring 76 and toggle arm 78 for the purpose ofcontrolling the operation of pawl 66 is a selector member 100, shownapart from the housing in FIGURE 7. This selector has an oval-shapedintermediate cam portion 102, an enlarged cam 104 at one end of the ovalportion 102, and a toothed lock segment 106. EX- tending from the end ofthe selector adjacent cam 104 is a pin 108 and extending from theopposite end of the selector is a shaft portion 110. As best seen inFIGURE 8, the selector is mounted in the compartment by journaledsupport of pin 108 in a suitable aperture 112 in the wall 22 and byjournaled support of shaft portion 110 in a suitable aperture 114 in theside wall of the housing.

The lock segment 106 is associated with a stationary toothed locksegment 116 provided in a counterbore 117 on the inner wall surface ofthe housing. As will be seen hereinafter, the selector 100 is rotatablelto selected locked positions, and for the purpose of rotatablyselecting it, the pin 10S and shaft portion 110 have slidable engagementwith their respective apertures and the selector is biased towards itsposition of locked engagement with the stationary segment 116 by acompression spring 118 supported on the pin 108 and disposed between thewall 22 and the adjacent end of the selector. The shaft portion 110carries a selector button 120 which in a preferred construction ispartly contained in a counterbore 122 so as to be substantially in anout-of-the-way position.

The locking segments 106, 116 have three different positions ofinterlocking, such positions being reached by pushing the selectorinwardly against the action of spring 118, to ltemporarily disengage theteeth of the locking segments, and rotating it to its desired position.Upon release of the selector the spring 118 forces it outwardly to alocked position.

The parts are constructed and arranged such that the pawl spring 76 isin the path of the cam 104 and the toggle arm 78 is in the path of theoval-shaped cam portion 102 of the selector.

To explain more fully the association of the selector and the springs,the operation will now be described. In a rst position, and withreference to FIGURE 1, wherein it is desired to raise a load theselector is pushed in and rotated to the selected position wherein thecam 104 is vertically disposed. In this position, the toggle arm 78 issubstantially unaffected by the oval body portion 102 since the latterhas its major axis disposed vertically. The cam 104, however, acts fullyon the pawl spring 76 which urges the pawl 66 in a counterclockwisedirection. The Ibiased condition of pawl 66 by spring 76 just describedis suicient to override any over-centering forces of detent spring 74and in fact spring 76 is assisted in holding the pawl in engagement bysaid detent spring since the latter in its FIGURE 1 position is in anovercenter position which tends to hold the pawl against the pinion 56.

By turning the shaft 58 in the direction of arrow 72 or shaft 42 in thedirection of arrow 124, ratchet winding of the drum 38 is accomplished,the pawl riding over the teeth of the pinion 56 as the drum is rotatedbut again catching teeth of said pinion when a winding rotation isstopped to prevent backing otf of the load.

FIGURES 2 and 3 show settings of the selector which provide forunwinding of the drum, FIGURE 2 showing a set position for controlledunwinding and FIGURE 3 showing a set position for free unwinding. First,with regard to FIGURE 2 and a controlled unwinding operation, theselector is pushed inwardly and rotated to a position wherein the cam104 is substantially horizontal. This lowers the end of spring 76wherein the latter no longer urges the pawl into engagement with thepinion gear. The toggle arm 78 is bent inwardly slightly as shown indotted lines in FIGURE 2 but this has no appreciable operative effect onthe pawl since the latter at this time is held securely in engagementwith the teeth of the pinion 56 by the force of the load.

Therefore, to obtain a ratcheting function in backing off the drum it isrst necessary to rotate the shaft 58 or 42 in the appropriate directionto release the force of the load from the pawl. In backing off the drum,the pawl rides up on `the teeth of the pinion and in such upwardmovement is pivoted sufficiently such that the detent spring is forcedto its other overcenter position to hold the pawl 66 in its FIGURE 2full line, disengaged position. Upon movement of the pawl to itsdisengaged or released position, the free end of toggle arm 78 movesinto the path of ratchet wheel 54 wherein the end of such spring isdisposed between two of the teeth of the ratchet wheel. Thereupon, whenthe operator releases the torque force that he has applied intemporarily raising the load, the pawl 66 will remain disengaged fromthe pinion wheel 56 until the next tooth of the ratchet wheel 54 engagesthe end of arm 78 and pushes it upwardly to a position where the detentspring over-centers and pivots the pawl into engagement with the pinion.The end of arm 78 at this time again assumes the dotted line position ofFIGURE 2 wherein its lower end is out of the path of the ratchet wheel54. The process of raising and backing off is repeated to release theload in a controlled function.

When it is desired to free the load completely for fast release, theselector is set such that the cam 104 is downwardly directed, as inFIGURE 3. In this position, the oval-shaped portion 102 has its majoraccess disposed vertically wherein the toggle arm 78 is incapable ofengagement with the ratchet wheel 54. The load is then raised slightlyand the riding up of the pawl 66 on the teeth of the pinion causes thedetent spring 74 to overcenter and hold such pawl in a raised positionout of engagement with the pinion.

Thus, in accordance with the present invention a line may be tightenedaround a load and backed off in a controlled ratcheting or a freerelease function as desired. Either one of the shafts 58 or 42 may bethe winding shaft, the shaft 58, operating through the pinion 56, givinga ratio winding force if such is desired. It is important to note thatin the present invention the control mechanism is disposed in acompartment 20 separated from the winding drum compartment whereby nodebris or foreign imaterial which may be associated with the Windingdrum will get into the compartment 20. Thus, it can be easily lubricatedand maintained in efcient working condition.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herein shown anddescribed is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and ythatvarious changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may beresorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention or thescope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A reversible hand Winch comprising a housing, a shaft journaled insaid housing, a winding drum on said shaft, a gear wheel operablyconnected for rotation with said drum, a pawl pivotally mounted in saidhousing and having a toothed end engageable with said gear wheel, saidpawl being arranged to provide ratcheted movement of said gear wheel inone direction, a rst spring engaged with said pawl and having a pair ofovercenter positions one of which urges said pawl into engagement withsaid gear wheel and the other of which urges and is adapted to hold saidpawl out of engagement with said gear wheel, a second spring engagedwith said pawl and arranged to urge said pawl into ratcheting engagementwith said gear Wheel, selector means rotatable between set positions,and a cam on said selector means engageable with said second spring,said cam in one position of the selector means distorting said secondspring suficient to override the forces of said iirst spring to causethe pawl to p-ivot into engagement with said gear wheel and in anotherposition releasing said second spring to permit operating influence ofsaid rst spring on said pawl.

2. The reversible hand winch of claim 1 including a ratchet wheeloperably connected for rotation with said drum and a toggle memberconnected to said pawl and arranged for engagement with said ratchetwheel, said ratchet wheel upon operation thereof being arranged to shiftsaid toggle member which is turn pivots said pawl toward said gearwheel.

3. The reversible hand winch of claim `1 including a ratchet wheeloperably connected for rotation with said drum, a toggle memberconnected to said pawl and arranged for engagement with said ratchetwheel, said rachet wheel upon operation thereof lbeing arranged toshiiit said toggle member which in tum pivots said pawl toward said gearWheel, and a second cam on said selector means engageable with saidtoggle member in a third position of said selector means to positionsaid toggle member for engagement with said ratchet wheel.

4. The reversible hand Winch of claim 1 wherein said gear wheel is apinion gear and is in mesh with a larger gear connected to said drum toproduce a ratio drive of said drum.

5. The reversible hand winch of claim 4 including a ratchet wheeloperably connected for rotation with said drum and a toggle memberconnected to said pawl and arranged for engagement with said ratchetwheel, said ratchet wheel upon rotation thereof being arranged to shiftsaid toggle member which in turn pivots said pawl toward said gearwheel, each of said gears having a crankengaging shaft projectingthrough said housing whereby to operate said drum by either of saidshafts in selected direct or ratio drives.

6. The reversible hand winch of claim 1 including a ratchet wheeloperably connected for rotation with said drum, said housing having apair of separate compartments, one of said compartments containing saidwinding drum and said other compartment containing said pawl, said gearand ratchet wheels, and said springs.

7. Control means for a winding mechanism comprising a gear wheel, apivotal pawl having a toothed end engageable with said gear wheel, saidpawl being arranged -to pro-vide ratcheted movement of said gear wheel,in one direction, a iirst spring engaged With said pawl and having apair of overcenter positions one of which urges said pawl intoengagement with said gear wheel and the other of which urges and isadapted to hold said pawl out of engagement with said -gear wheel, asecond spring engaged with said pawl and arranged to urge said pawl intoratcheting engagement with said gear wheel, selector means .rotatablebetween set positions, and a cam on said selector means engageable withsaid second spring, said cam in one position of the selector meansdistorting said second spring sufiicient to override the forces of saidfirst spring to cause the pawl to pivot into engagement with said gearwheel and in another position releasing said second spring to permitoperating influence of said stirst spring on said pawl.

8. The control means of claim 7 including a ratchet Wheel operablyconnected for rotation with said gear wheel `and a toggle memberconnected to said pawl and arranged for engagement with said ratchetwheel, said ratchet wheel upon rotation thereof being arranged to shiftsaid togle member which in turn pivots said pawl toward said gear Wheel.

9. The control means of claim 7 including a ratchet wheel operablyconnected for rotation with said gear wheel, a ytoggle member connectedto said pawl and arranged for engagement with said ratchet wheel, saidratchet wheel upon rotation thereof being arranged to shift said togglemember which in turn pivots said pawl toward said gear wheel, and asecond cam on said selector means engageable with said toggle member ina third position of said selector means to position said toggle memberfor engagement With said ratchet Wheel.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,917,278 12/1959Arnold 254 167 X MILTON KAUFMAN, Primary Examiner.

1. A REVERSIBLE HAND WINCH COMPRISING A HOUSING, A SHAFT JOURNALED INSAID HOUSING, A WINDING DRUM ON SAID SHAFT, A GEAR WHEEL OPERABLYCONNECTED FOR ROTATION WITH SAID DRUM, A PAWL PIVOTALLY MOUNTED IN SAIDHOUSING AND HAVING A TOOTHED END ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID GEAR WHEEL, SAIDPAWL BEING ARRANGED TO PROVIDE RATCHETED MOVEMENT OF SAID GEAR WHEEL INONE DIRECTION, A FIRST SPRING ENGAGED WITH SAID PAWL AND HAVING A PAIROF OVERCENTER POSITIONS ONE OF WHICH URGES SAID PAWL INTO ENGAGEMENTWITH SAID GEAR WHEEL AND THE OTHER OF WHICH URGES AND IS ADAPTED TO HOLDSAID PAWL OUT OF ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID GEAR WHEEL, A SECOND SPRINGENGAGED WITH SAID PAWL AND ARRANGED TO URGE SAID PAWL INTO RATCHETINGENGAGEMENT WITH SAID GEAR WHEEL, SELECTOR MEANS ROTATABLE BETWEEN SETPOSITIONS, AND A CAM ON SAID SELECTOR MEANS ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID SECONDSPRING, SAID CAM IN ONE POSITION OF THE SELECTOR MEANS DISTORING SAIDSECOND SPRING SUFFICIENT TO OVERRIDE THE FORCES OF SAID FIRST SPRING TOCAUSE THE PAWL TO PIVOT INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID GEAR WHEEL AND INANOTHER POSITION RELEASING SAID SECOND SPRING TO PERMIT OPERATINGINFLUENCE OF SAID FIRST SPRING ON SAID PAWL.